WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:19.179 And so we've seen Christ is our substitutionary sacrifice who, if you see our diagram, if this is the problem of the world, we are a broken relationship with God, it's because of three things, death, wrath, and a fractured relationship. 00:00:19.179 --> 00:00:31.960 And Christ, as sacrifice, took our debt, our sin, our guilt, all on him on the cross, and he purchased for us redemption, a ransom, he paid that debt. 00:00:32.679 --> 00:00:39.359 And on the cross, he bears God's wrath, it's diverted away from that sin, it all falls onto Christ on the cross. 00:00:39.899 --> 00:00:45.359 And so he achieves propitiation, which means it appeases God's wrath, satisfies God. 00:00:45.359 --> 00:00:49.659 And so he reconciles us back to God. 00:00:50.200 --> 00:00:55.259 This is how you repair the relationship between man and God. 00:00:55.340 --> 00:00:57.000 This is how you bring sinners back. 00:00:57.579 --> 00:01:00.019 You need the cross, you need atonement. 00:01:00.780 --> 00:01:04.120 And this is what we mean by atonement, it involves these three things, right? 00:01:05.319 --> 00:01:08.640 You can say that these are the ingredients, the aspects to atonement. 00:01:09.180 --> 00:01:11.019 Through the cross, we are at one with God. 00:01:11.019 --> 00:01:17.159 And we saw last week who Christ died for. 00:01:18.840 --> 00:01:21.239 We saw that he died for his people. 00:01:22.280 --> 00:01:26.060 So he had a specific people attached to his belt. 00:01:26.219 --> 00:01:29.379 So think of Adam and Christ, think of our two giant series. 00:01:29.920 --> 00:01:33.299 Christ was wearing a belt when he died, figuratively. 00:01:33.819 --> 00:01:38.759 And on his belt, he was carrying all the people that the Father had given him. 00:01:38.760 --> 00:01:41.219 So his death actually does something. 00:01:41.640 --> 00:01:45.960 It doesn't just potentially pay for sins in general. 00:01:46.120 --> 00:01:48.780 It's up for grabs, like a medicine box, take it or leave it. 00:01:48.800 --> 00:01:49.420 It's not that. 00:01:49.980 --> 00:01:53.020 No, on the cross, an actual payment occurs. 00:01:53.180 --> 00:01:54.219 Because that's what it is. 00:01:54.300 --> 00:01:55.460 A sacrifice is a payment. 00:01:56.120 --> 00:02:00.400 And it's a payment for specific sins of a specific people. 00:02:01.219 --> 00:02:03.960 And if you're wanting more on that, if you went here last week, I've got a recording. 00:02:04.080 --> 00:02:04.900 I can send it to you. 00:02:05.240 --> 00:02:07.700 We're going to be getting everything up on the website soon. 00:02:07.700 --> 00:02:08.960 I've been saying that for about a year now. 00:02:09.060 --> 00:02:11.740 We are going to be getting up everything on the website soon. 00:02:11.800 --> 00:02:13.259 But if you want a recording of that, let me know. 00:02:14.719 --> 00:02:17.860 And there's just so much that we could be diving into about the cross. 00:02:18.420 --> 00:02:22.420 And so over the next half term and next, we're going to be thinking about lots of things. 00:02:22.900 --> 00:02:26.879 What Christ was experiencing when he bore the wrath of God? 00:02:27.680 --> 00:02:31.379 What happened to the Trinity on the cross? 00:02:31.539 --> 00:02:32.500 Was there a break? 00:02:32.960 --> 00:02:34.259 Short answer, no, there wasn't a break. 00:02:34.259 --> 00:02:35.219 But we'll find out why. 00:02:36.139 --> 00:02:38.679 If Christ is God, how can he die? 00:02:38.979 --> 00:02:41.639 So think about his divinity as well as all this. 00:02:42.359 --> 00:02:47.099 And we're going to think about God's character, how God can be loving and angry at the same time. 00:02:47.739 --> 00:02:48.840 So lots of important things. 00:02:48.919 --> 00:02:57.060 But today, I want us to think, what does the cross have to do with the life of Jesus? 00:02:57.060 --> 00:03:04.039 Okay, so we know the cross, his death, is key to atonement, bringing us back to God. 00:03:04.979 --> 00:03:07.300 But what about the rest of Jesus' life? 00:03:08.140 --> 00:03:10.020 So his birth, his ministry. 00:03:10.180 --> 00:03:13.840 What about the whole 33 years before the cross? 00:03:14.300 --> 00:03:16.620 What does that have to do with the atonement? 00:03:17.180 --> 00:03:19.240 Or we could phrase the question like this. 00:03:19.240 --> 00:03:27.480 If this is so key to salvation, if this is what brings us back to God, why didn't Christ just appear on earth and just die straight away? 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:29.020 Go straight to the cross. 00:03:29.300 --> 00:03:31.360 Why all his life beforehand? 00:03:32.340 --> 00:03:34.260 What does atonement have to do with his life? 00:03:35.340 --> 00:03:42.780 Well, I want us to see today, Christ's death, it's actually connected with his whole life that came before it. 00:03:42.780 --> 00:03:49.759 From the cradle to the cross, it's all connected and necessary for atonement. 00:03:50.900 --> 00:04:00.099 And in fact, his whole life, not only the cross, was Christ securing atonement for us and bringing us back to God. 00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:06.479 And to see this, we need to see what ties all of that together. 00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:08.319 What ties his life and death together? 00:04:08.319 --> 00:04:20.139 We need to see all of Christ's life, but climatically at his death, was all one big state, one big period of humiliation. 00:04:21.060 --> 00:04:24.019 And that's where I want us to be in today, Christ's humiliation. 00:04:25.139 --> 00:04:26.199 That's my first point. 00:04:26.259 --> 00:04:28.159 Christ's humiliation, he was made lower than the angels. 00:04:28.360 --> 00:04:34.439 So in order to see how Christ's life and death and all his safe and working fact is all connected, 00:04:34.439 --> 00:04:42.519 we need to understand that there are two states or two stages, two periods of Christ's life. 00:04:43.199 --> 00:04:45.579 And I want you to figure out what they are in scripture. 00:04:45.959 --> 00:04:51.459 So break out into groups, look at these verses and answer these questions. 00:04:51.459 --> 00:04:56.759 How many states are there in Christ's life and his work? 00:04:57.139 --> 00:04:59.019 And what characterizes these states? 00:04:59.539 --> 00:05:02.099 It shouldn't take you too long, you'll get the gist after a few. 00:05:02.519 --> 00:05:04.599 But just have a look, I'll give you a couple of minutes for that. 00:05:04.599 --> 00:05:04.599 00:05:21.459 --> 00:05:51.439 Thank you. 00:05:51.459 --> 00:05:52.039 Thank you. 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:52.039 00:05:52.040 --> 00:06:22.020 Thank you. 00:06:22.040 --> 00:06:52.020 Thank you. 00:06:52.040 --> 00:06:54.040 Thank you. 00:07:02.040 --> 00:07:05.360 Give you another minute. 00:07:05.360 --> 00:07:07.360 Thank you. 00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:37.360 Thank you. 00:07:37.360 --> 00:07:39.360 Thank you. 00:07:39.360 --> 00:07:41.360 Thank you. 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:43.360 Thank you. 00:07:43.360 --> 00:07:45.360 Thank you. 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:47.360 Thank you. 00:07:53.360 --> 00:07:53.759 Okay. 00:07:54.259 --> 00:07:55.500 Let's bring it back together. 00:07:56.259 --> 00:07:58.360 We'll have a look at Philippians 2 a little bit closer. 00:07:58.959 --> 00:08:00.279 So don't worry if you didn't get onto that. 00:08:01.300 --> 00:08:02.319 I won't pick on anyone. 00:08:02.540 --> 00:08:07.319 So I hope you could see a pattern in all these passages. 00:08:07.519 --> 00:08:15.560 So can you see that the Bible, even Jesus himself, speaks of different states or stages to Christ's life? 00:08:16.379 --> 00:08:17.500 And how many are there? 00:08:17.720 --> 00:08:18.600 I hope you saw a pattern. 00:08:18.780 --> 00:08:19.420 There are two. 00:08:20.860 --> 00:08:24.560 So there is a state, first of all, of being low. 00:08:25.060 --> 00:08:27.939 So he's described as lower than the angels, right? 00:08:27.939 --> 00:08:32.080 And in that state, Christ is rejected. 00:08:32.940 --> 00:08:34.720 It's a state of suffering. 00:08:35.580 --> 00:08:39.240 It is a state of offering humble service, Philippians 2. 00:08:39.580 --> 00:08:40.559 There is obedience. 00:08:40.559 --> 00:08:44.319 And so it is this lowly state. 00:08:44.419 --> 00:08:48.559 And you can sum this up as this is a state of humiliation. 00:08:49.299 --> 00:08:53.239 So humiliation, humbleness, lowliness, suffering. 00:08:54.359 --> 00:08:55.539 And that is followed. 00:08:55.819 --> 00:08:57.219 It always comes in a pair, doesn't it? 00:08:57.259 --> 00:08:59.759 That is followed by a reversal of that state. 00:09:00.579 --> 00:09:03.299 It's a state of glory and honor. 00:09:03.639 --> 00:09:10.179 So Christ speaks of himself being in a state of suffering and then entering into a state of glory. 00:09:11.199 --> 00:09:16.119 Or in Philippians, Paul says God has exalted that humble Christ. 00:09:16.699 --> 00:09:21.819 So a state of exaltation is the other half to this. 00:09:22.859 --> 00:09:26.959 And this is how theologians have described Christ's life and work. 00:09:26.959 --> 00:09:29.879 You can really split it up into two states. 00:09:30.579 --> 00:09:35.459 And it's split into the state of humiliation and exaltation. 00:09:36.259 --> 00:09:38.199 So have a look at the Westminster Shorter Catechism. 00:09:38.200 --> 00:09:41.540 So we'll dive into scripture to see how we get here. 00:09:41.840 --> 00:09:43.900 But just have a look at how it summarizes this. 00:09:44.940 --> 00:09:48.000 Wherein did Christ's humiliation consist? 00:09:48.420 --> 00:09:49.040 The first state. 00:09:49.780 --> 00:09:50.420 What's the answer? 00:09:50.419 --> 00:10:07.979 Christ's humiliation consisted in his being born and that in a low condition made under the law, undergoing the miseries of this life, the wrath of God and the cursed death of the cross in being buried and continuing under the power of death for a time. 00:10:07.980 --> 00:10:09.680 So that's the first state. 00:10:09.680 --> 00:10:13.379 And then wherein consists Christ's exaltation. 00:10:13.980 --> 00:10:25.279 Christ's exaltation consists in his rising again from the dead on the third day, in ascending up to heaven, in sitting at the right hand of God the Father and in coming to judge the world at the last day. 00:10:25.279 --> 00:10:29.439 So do you see two states Christ has entered into? 00:10:29.779 --> 00:10:34.759 First of all, into a lowly state of humiliation and suffering. 00:10:35.579 --> 00:10:39.659 And then resurrection, ascension, glory, a state of exaltation. 00:10:40.659 --> 00:10:41.919 Glorified before God. 00:10:43.039 --> 00:10:44.220 Reigning above everything. 00:10:45.419 --> 00:10:47.360 And so you can think of it like this. 00:10:48.120 --> 00:10:51.259 This is Christ's life and work summed up. 00:10:51.259 --> 00:10:54.379 So think of it like this. 00:10:55.819 --> 00:11:03.379 The son of God, as God, has always existed in eternity in his divine nature. 00:11:03.840 --> 00:11:06.480 OK, so that's the son of God. 00:11:07.139 --> 00:11:13.039 Perfectly dwelling in heaven since the creation of the heavens and eternally existing before that. 00:11:13.759 --> 00:11:19.939 So perfectly dwelling in heaven and he will continue to be forever and ever. 00:11:19.940 --> 00:11:21.940 Right. So that's why the dotted line continues. 00:11:22.700 --> 00:11:22.820 OK. 00:11:23.800 --> 00:11:30.060 But in time, he then something happens to the person of the son. 00:11:30.420 --> 00:11:35.680 He then takes a form of a servant in time on earth. 00:11:37.520 --> 00:11:39.280 So that's the language of Philippians. 00:11:39.380 --> 00:11:44.080 He humbles himself by taking on a human nature. 00:11:44.080 --> 00:11:49.800 So the word, the eternal word becomes flesh here on earth. 00:11:51.000 --> 00:11:53.360 And the son of God in his human nature. 00:11:54.000 --> 00:11:56.400 What what is that life like? 00:11:56.460 --> 00:11:59.400 What is that state and that condition like he enters into? 00:11:59.759 --> 00:12:04.460 Well, it's a state of humiliation on earth. 00:12:04.460 --> 00:12:06.720 So this is in time on earth down here. 00:12:09.860 --> 00:12:14.580 Whilst also, let's just clarify, whilst also still being in his divine nature, 00:12:14.660 --> 00:12:18.940 according to his divine nature, eternally the son of God as God in all glory. 00:12:19.100 --> 00:12:19.320 OK. 00:12:19.320 --> 00:12:21.360 So we are talking about his incarnation. 00:12:21.500 --> 00:12:22.620 Let's just clarify here. 00:12:23.660 --> 00:12:24.140 Incarnation. 00:12:28.740 --> 00:12:29.220 Time. 00:12:32.940 --> 00:12:33.420 OK. 00:12:33.660 --> 00:12:34.300 That's what we do. 00:12:34.460 --> 00:12:34.620 OK. 00:12:34.620 --> 00:12:46.080 And so that state is a state of humiliation as soon as he arrives here on earth. 00:12:46.779 --> 00:12:50.240 And then he entered into a state of exaltation. 00:12:51.299 --> 00:12:53.519 At some point, we're going to clarify when all this is. 00:12:54.159 --> 00:12:56.299 But then he entered the state of exaltation. 00:12:57.299 --> 00:12:59.580 Glorified, sat at the right hand of the Father in heaven. 00:13:01.240 --> 00:13:02.120 Exalted, honoured. 00:13:02.120 --> 00:13:06.940 And just for now, I want us to focus on this state of humiliation. 00:13:07.639 --> 00:13:07.740 OK. 00:13:08.340 --> 00:13:08.879 So have a look. 00:13:09.100 --> 00:13:11.139 When did this state start? 00:13:12.100 --> 00:13:13.440 Look at Philippians 2.7. 00:13:13.560 --> 00:13:18.100 He humbled himself by taking on the form of a servant. 00:13:19.159 --> 00:13:22.360 By being born in the likeness of men. 00:13:23.419 --> 00:13:25.539 So when did this state begin? 00:13:26.519 --> 00:13:27.779 It's at birth. 00:13:28.460 --> 00:13:29.180 In the manger. 00:13:29.940 --> 00:13:30.620 In the cradle. 00:13:30.620 --> 00:13:30.759 OK. 00:13:32.120 --> 00:13:40.659 It links that it's him when he takes on his human nature. 00:13:40.980 --> 00:13:43.039 Or we should really say at his conception. 00:13:43.340 --> 00:13:43.480 Right. 00:13:43.840 --> 00:13:46.060 That's when he took on a human nature. 00:13:47.240 --> 00:13:55.080 As soon as that human nature begins in Mary's womb, instantly he enters a state of humiliation. 00:13:55.320 --> 00:13:58.899 He takes that form of a servant, even as he's that little zygote. 00:13:58.899 --> 00:14:01.039 But I'm drawing the cradle there. 00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:02.419 I hope you know what I mean by cradle. 00:14:02.539 --> 00:14:03.799 That includes the womb as well. 00:14:03.919 --> 00:14:05.579 But I'm hard to draw a fetus. 00:14:05.759 --> 00:14:05.840 Right. 00:14:07.639 --> 00:14:08.879 And so that's when it begins. 00:14:09.100 --> 00:14:11.779 What and what does this state build up to? 00:14:12.519 --> 00:14:15.799 What is the end climactic point of this state? 00:14:15.919 --> 00:14:17.740 Well, look at Philippians 2.8. 00:14:17.740 --> 00:14:24.460 He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death. 00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:27.320 Even death on a cross. 00:14:27.320 --> 00:14:34.320 The end point, the climax of this state is the cross. 00:14:34.320 --> 00:14:44.080 So it begins in the cradle, his state of humiliation, and then it climaxes on the cross. 00:14:45.280 --> 00:14:47.580 And what did the state of humiliation involve? 00:14:47.960 --> 00:14:50.060 What's going on in this state? 00:14:50.140 --> 00:14:51.660 Is it just these two points? 00:14:52.060 --> 00:14:52.560 And that's it. 00:14:52.640 --> 00:14:53.720 That's his humiliation. 00:14:54.620 --> 00:14:54.940 No. 00:14:55.379 --> 00:14:59.260 His humiliation involves everything in between as well. 00:14:59.259 --> 00:15:07.399 So it's from the cradle all the way to and including the cross. 00:15:11.259 --> 00:15:15.460 And so you can see that in the language of Philippians. 00:15:15.659 --> 00:15:18.259 It's all the way to the point of death. 00:15:18.819 --> 00:15:18.939 Right. 00:15:20.319 --> 00:15:21.679 And what does that involve? 00:15:22.419 --> 00:15:24.419 This state of humiliation. 00:15:24.840 --> 00:15:26.480 Well, we'll see this more in a bit in scripture. 00:15:26.480 --> 00:15:30.000 But look how the shorter catechism summarizes it. 00:15:31.100 --> 00:15:34.340 So what's involved in this state of humiliation? 00:15:34.500 --> 00:15:40.680 It means being born into this sinful world in a low condition. 00:15:42.120 --> 00:15:52.840 Christ, when he took on a human nature, when he was born into this world, he wasn't an invulnerable superhero that floated three feet off the ground and he found this life easy. 00:15:52.840 --> 00:15:53.840 No. 00:15:54.700 --> 00:15:58.180 Jesus had a frail, vulnerable humanity. 00:15:58.820 --> 00:16:00.440 So he could suffer. 00:16:01.200 --> 00:16:07.740 He could get thirsty and hungry and agonize and feel the pains of this world. 00:16:08.160 --> 00:16:09.000 He could die. 00:16:10.660 --> 00:16:14.879 And in that life, he underwent all the miseries of this world. 00:16:15.379 --> 00:16:19.780 He lived in and amongst just the miserable curse of this world. 00:16:19.779 --> 00:16:22.740 He breathed in a fallen atmosphere. 00:16:24.059 --> 00:16:27.379 Which, of course, is all under the wrath of God, isn't it? 00:16:27.480 --> 00:16:29.699 All of this world is under the wrath of God. 00:16:30.500 --> 00:16:37.199 And then, of course, he experienced the curse of this world climactically in his death. 00:16:38.139 --> 00:16:39.539 The most cursed death of all. 00:16:40.220 --> 00:16:41.799 The death of a cross. 00:16:41.799 --> 00:16:49.719 And this, this is what connects all his life and his death. 00:16:50.359 --> 00:16:57.679 It is all one big connected state of suffering, of humiliation. 00:16:57.679 --> 00:17:07.779 And so when we say Christ suffered for us and bore God's wrath and bore the curse for us to bring us back to God, as we've just seen. 00:17:08.519 --> 00:17:10.319 Yes, we do mean the cross. 00:17:10.899 --> 00:17:14.619 But it also includes everything that builds up to it. 00:17:14.619 --> 00:17:23.539 So all of this, all of this, his whole life, including the cross, is a state of humiliation. 00:17:24.119 --> 00:17:29.339 And this was Christ's suffering for us to bring us atonement. 00:17:31.079 --> 00:17:32.199 Someone's used the illustration. 00:17:32.479 --> 00:17:35.000 It's loosely connected, but it's helpful. 00:17:35.539 --> 00:17:39.079 It's a bit like, well, Christ pays the debt on the cross. 00:17:39.219 --> 00:17:40.479 So think of paying a debt. 00:17:40.480 --> 00:17:52.720 That if Christ was paying the debt for our sin at the cross, you can think, during his life, he was paying the debt constantly in Mary's womb. 00:17:52.799 --> 00:17:55.880 He was constantly paying it every second of his life. 00:17:56.039 --> 00:18:00.279 From Mary's womb onward, he was bearing that debt and paying for it. 00:18:00.620 --> 00:18:04.599 And he's constantly kind of paying into the bank throughout his life. 00:18:04.599 --> 00:18:09.079 But the cross is kind of like the final big payment. 00:18:09.079 --> 00:18:11.879 So all the payments are needed. 00:18:12.139 --> 00:18:13.000 They're all necessary. 00:18:13.980 --> 00:18:14.720 They're all related. 00:18:14.859 --> 00:18:18.559 But the cross is kind of the final boom, climactic payment. 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:22.399 Or if you kind of had an atonement graph. 00:18:22.400 --> 00:18:24.100 Let's try and graph this. 00:18:24.620 --> 00:18:25.759 An atonement graph. 00:18:28.860 --> 00:18:29.980 Let's do it like this. 00:18:31.440 --> 00:18:33.320 So again, an atonement graph. 00:18:34.360 --> 00:18:35.460 Sorry if you can't see this. 00:18:35.560 --> 00:18:36.220 Time here. 00:18:37.960 --> 00:18:39.780 Atonement or payment redemption. 00:18:40.360 --> 00:18:43.100 So he's constantly paying it. 00:18:43.740 --> 00:18:45.360 And it's a cross boom. 00:18:46.120 --> 00:18:49.600 That's where he gives the final payment, climactically. 00:18:49.599 --> 00:18:53.879 But to understand why all this fits together. 00:18:54.500 --> 00:19:00.899 We need to understand that this whole state isn't just kind of suffering in general. 00:19:01.939 --> 00:19:07.579 No, this whole state is Christ being made under the law. 00:19:08.740 --> 00:19:10.439 So do you see what the catechism says? 00:19:10.559 --> 00:19:14.939 Christ's humiliation consists in being made under the law. 00:19:15.779 --> 00:19:17.000 That's from Galatians 4. 00:19:17.119 --> 00:19:18.399 Paul preached on it a few weeks ago. 00:19:18.400 --> 00:19:19.740 So Galatians 4.4. 00:19:20.620 --> 00:19:22.300 But when the fullness of time had come. 00:19:22.820 --> 00:19:25.300 When the timing was just right in God's plan. 00:19:25.460 --> 00:19:27.140 God sent forth his son. 00:19:27.700 --> 00:19:28.580 Born of a woman. 00:19:29.480 --> 00:19:29.800 You see? 00:19:30.040 --> 00:19:30.880 Beginning of humiliation. 00:19:31.180 --> 00:19:32.400 Born of a woman. 00:19:32.880 --> 00:19:33.720 And how was he born? 00:19:33.780 --> 00:19:35.759 He was born under the law. 00:19:36.620 --> 00:19:37.860 To redeem those. 00:19:38.019 --> 00:19:38.880 Redemption language. 00:19:39.680 --> 00:19:41.960 To redeem those who were under the law. 00:19:41.960 --> 00:19:45.920 So when Christ came from heaven. 00:19:45.920 --> 00:19:48.059 And took on a human nature. 00:19:48.180 --> 00:19:49.019 He was born. 00:19:49.519 --> 00:19:50.900 And conceived and born. 00:19:51.380 --> 00:19:52.740 And he was born. 00:19:53.660 --> 00:19:54.720 Under the law. 00:20:01.299 --> 00:20:02.700 To born. 00:20:03.700 --> 00:20:04.420 Under. 00:20:05.420 --> 00:20:05.819 The law. 00:20:05.819 --> 00:20:06.319 Okay. 00:20:06.480 --> 00:20:07.339 So his whole life. 00:20:07.939 --> 00:20:09.639 That's weighing above him. 00:20:11.000 --> 00:20:11.879 And born under the law. 00:20:11.980 --> 00:20:12.339 It means. 00:20:12.879 --> 00:20:16.419 Born under all that God's law demands. 00:20:16.980 --> 00:20:17.159 Okay. 00:20:17.879 --> 00:20:18.519 Born under the law. 00:20:18.579 --> 00:20:21.619 It means born under all that God's law demands. 00:20:22.419 --> 00:20:22.899 And. 00:20:23.159 --> 00:20:23.839 Kind of. 00:20:24.279 --> 00:20:24.720 Centrally. 00:20:24.859 --> 00:20:26.500 It has the mosaic law in focus here. 00:20:26.559 --> 00:20:26.639 But. 00:20:26.720 --> 00:20:28.899 But we can expand it to all God's law really. 00:20:29.399 --> 00:20:32.459 Because the mosaic law is connected to all that God demands. 00:20:32.919 --> 00:20:33.819 Of humanity. 00:20:34.459 --> 00:20:35.159 So humans. 00:20:36.019 --> 00:20:37.119 Are by nature. 00:20:37.199 --> 00:20:37.740 As sinners. 00:20:37.919 --> 00:20:38.480 We are. 00:20:39.599 --> 00:20:40.879 Automatically born. 00:20:41.579 --> 00:20:43.059 With obligations to God. 00:20:43.699 --> 00:20:43.980 Right. 00:20:44.539 --> 00:20:45.639 Which simply means. 00:20:46.139 --> 00:20:47.000 We aren't. 00:20:47.480 --> 00:20:48.759 Just existing here. 00:20:48.959 --> 00:20:49.480 Neutrally. 00:20:50.339 --> 00:20:52.299 We are accountable to God. 00:20:52.399 --> 00:20:53.679 We are moral creatures. 00:20:53.839 --> 00:20:54.519 Accountable. 00:20:54.599 --> 00:20:55.339 Accountable to him. 00:20:55.659 --> 00:20:57.179 We live in his world. 00:20:57.959 --> 00:20:58.799 And so just. 00:20:59.039 --> 00:21:00.000 By nature. 00:21:00.379 --> 00:21:01.899 In the fabric of reality. 00:21:02.439 --> 00:21:03.099 We are just. 00:21:03.259 --> 00:21:04.240 Under his rules. 00:21:04.299 --> 00:21:05.279 And accountable to him. 00:21:06.339 --> 00:21:06.819 And so. 00:21:06.939 --> 00:21:07.639 You see that with Adam. 00:21:07.759 --> 00:21:08.759 Just like Adam. 00:21:09.559 --> 00:21:11.019 God requires us. 00:21:11.480 --> 00:21:12.199 To live in a. 00:21:12.319 --> 00:21:13.439 In a certain way. 00:21:13.519 --> 00:21:13.899 To live. 00:21:14.740 --> 00:21:15.299 Perfectly. 00:21:15.339 --> 00:21:15.859 Before him. 00:21:16.899 --> 00:21:18.720 That's what he wants from his creatures. 00:21:19.439 --> 00:21:19.919 Perfect. 00:21:20.399 --> 00:21:20.839 Absolute. 00:21:21.000 --> 00:21:21.480 Perfect. 00:21:21.619 --> 00:21:22.319 Obedience to him. 00:21:22.679 --> 00:21:23.819 That's his law. 00:21:24.639 --> 00:21:24.819 Right. 00:21:25.259 --> 00:21:26.500 Everyone is born. 00:21:26.579 --> 00:21:27.619 Under that obligation. 00:21:28.619 --> 00:21:30.119 And if you break it. 00:21:30.460 --> 00:21:31.240 Like Adam. 00:21:32.079 --> 00:21:33.740 You also face a penalty. 00:21:34.299 --> 00:21:34.899 A consequence. 00:21:35.059 --> 00:21:35.519 A punishment. 00:21:36.359 --> 00:21:36.799 For Adam. 00:21:36.879 --> 00:21:37.159 It was. 00:21:37.799 --> 00:21:38.519 What we see it. 00:21:38.579 --> 00:21:39.079 It's death. 00:21:40.159 --> 00:21:40.579 Cursed. 00:21:40.899 --> 00:21:41.339 Suffering. 00:21:43.339 --> 00:21:44.480 That's the consequence. 00:21:44.599 --> 00:21:45.059 The penalty. 00:21:45.059 --> 00:21:45.859 Of breaking the law. 00:21:45.859 --> 00:21:47.359 And this wasn't just for Adam. 00:21:47.459 --> 00:21:48.659 That this is passed on to. 00:21:49.019 --> 00:21:50.139 All of humanity. 00:21:51.379 --> 00:21:52.399 Guilty humanity. 00:21:52.399 --> 00:21:53.479 Is by nature. 00:21:53.740 --> 00:21:54.179 Born. 00:21:54.679 --> 00:21:55.500 Under the law. 00:21:56.079 --> 00:21:57.159 So we are all. 00:21:57.159 --> 00:21:58.139 Existing. 00:21:59.339 --> 00:21:59.759 Here. 00:22:01.459 --> 00:22:02.359 By nature. 00:22:02.539 --> 00:22:02.859 Existing. 00:22:07.859 --> 00:22:08.500 Right. 00:22:08.500 --> 00:22:09.660 That's all humanity. 00:22:09.660 --> 00:22:10.420 By nature. 00:22:12.819 --> 00:22:14.460 So life under the sun. 00:22:15.259 --> 00:22:16.619 Is life under the law. 00:22:18.299 --> 00:22:20.700 And so that means two things for us. 00:22:21.380 --> 00:22:23.339 There are two demands. 00:22:24.380 --> 00:22:25.019 Upon. 00:22:25.500 --> 00:22:26.740 And two requirements. 00:22:26.740 --> 00:22:27.859 Upon humanity. 00:22:27.859 --> 00:22:29.019 Firstly. 00:22:29.199 --> 00:22:30.559 We must perfectly. 00:22:30.839 --> 00:22:32.019 Obey God's law. 00:22:32.919 --> 00:22:34.099 So never sin. 00:22:34.679 --> 00:22:34.839 Right. 00:22:35.339 --> 00:22:36.679 Fulfill the ten commandments. 00:22:37.279 --> 00:22:37.759 Perfectly. 00:22:37.919 --> 00:22:38.500 Love God. 00:22:38.619 --> 00:22:39.399 And love our neighbour. 00:22:40.159 --> 00:22:40.639 Absolutely. 00:22:40.859 --> 00:22:41.459 Perfectly. 00:22:41.859 --> 00:22:42.299 We can kind of. 00:22:42.399 --> 00:22:42.659 Summarize. 00:22:42.659 --> 00:22:43.379 When we say the law. 00:22:43.459 --> 00:22:44.459 We can summarize it like this. 00:22:44.619 --> 00:22:45.559 One dimension is. 00:22:46.259 --> 00:22:46.639 Obey. 00:22:47.799 --> 00:22:48.399 So kind of. 00:22:48.859 --> 00:22:49.339 Positively. 00:22:51.439 --> 00:22:51.919 Positively. 00:22:51.919 --> 00:22:52.359 Obey. 00:22:53.099 --> 00:22:54.119 Do the ten commandments. 00:22:54.119 --> 00:22:57.459 But we don't. 00:22:57.739 --> 00:22:58.399 Do that as sinners. 00:22:58.500 --> 00:22:58.739 Do we? 00:22:59.879 --> 00:23:01.379 We fail terribly. 00:23:02.059 --> 00:23:03.139 We have. 00:23:03.959 --> 00:23:05.139 Broken the law. 00:23:05.799 --> 00:23:07.779 And so there is another demand. 00:23:07.779 --> 00:23:08.479 From that law. 00:23:08.619 --> 00:23:09.459 We must face. 00:23:09.979 --> 00:23:10.979 The consequences. 00:23:11.179 --> 00:23:11.679 We must. 00:23:12.319 --> 00:23:12.759 Suffer. 00:23:13.959 --> 00:23:15.399 So think of Genesis 3. 00:23:16.259 --> 00:23:18.000 We are thrown out of the garden. 00:23:18.939 --> 00:23:19.500 Curse. 00:23:19.819 --> 00:23:20.239 Misery. 00:23:20.519 --> 00:23:20.959 Pain. 00:23:21.419 --> 00:23:22.879 And ultimately death. 00:23:23.239 --> 00:23:24.099 That these are all the consequences. 00:23:24.119 --> 00:23:25.639 Of the law. 00:23:27.059 --> 00:23:27.419 So. 00:23:28.539 --> 00:23:29.359 Under the law. 00:23:29.459 --> 00:23:30.139 It also means. 00:23:30.379 --> 00:23:31.799 In a negative sense. 00:23:33.399 --> 00:23:33.919 Suffer. 00:23:34.799 --> 00:23:35.059 Right. 00:23:35.379 --> 00:23:35.819 The penalty. 00:23:35.959 --> 00:23:36.419 The consequence. 00:23:38.319 --> 00:23:40.019 And this is what humanity. 00:23:40.199 --> 00:23:41.019 Is trapped under. 00:23:42.199 --> 00:23:43.139 We are trapped. 00:23:43.379 --> 00:23:44.079 In this life. 00:23:44.199 --> 00:23:44.899 Under the law. 00:23:45.539 --> 00:23:47.199 Constantly needing to obey. 00:23:47.559 --> 00:23:48.759 But we're constantly. 00:23:49.079 --> 00:23:49.439 Breaking. 00:23:50.439 --> 00:23:51.659 And so we're constantly. 00:23:51.659 --> 00:23:52.939 Faced with the demand. 00:23:53.319 --> 00:23:54.019 To suffer. 00:23:54.859 --> 00:23:55.899 Face God's wrath. 00:23:56.139 --> 00:23:56.459 Now. 00:23:56.679 --> 00:23:58.039 In this miserable life. 00:23:58.539 --> 00:23:59.019 And. 00:23:59.459 --> 00:24:00.079 On judgment day. 00:24:01.459 --> 00:24:02.179 And so. 00:24:02.539 --> 00:24:03.299 All of this. 00:24:03.699 --> 00:24:04.759 It's actually related. 00:24:05.319 --> 00:24:06.399 To our need. 00:24:06.459 --> 00:24:07.099 For atonement. 00:24:07.959 --> 00:24:08.259 So. 00:24:08.739 --> 00:24:09.639 We have. 00:24:10.059 --> 00:24:10.359 Do you remember. 00:24:10.419 --> 00:24:11.099 The sin debt. 00:24:11.099 --> 00:24:11.599 Let's. 00:24:11.599 --> 00:24:12.399 Let's have a quick look. 00:24:12.839 --> 00:24:13.299 So remember. 00:24:13.439 --> 00:24:14.879 We have a sin debt. 00:24:15.519 --> 00:24:16.459 Over our heads. 00:24:16.519 --> 00:24:16.740 Right. 00:24:16.879 --> 00:24:17.799 And God's wrath. 00:24:18.199 --> 00:24:19.219 Is falling on us. 00:24:19.219 --> 00:24:20.599 Because we have that sin debt. 00:24:20.879 --> 00:24:21.439 The penalty. 00:24:21.439 --> 00:24:22.939 Is facing God's wrath. 00:24:24.019 --> 00:24:24.679 And so. 00:24:25.039 --> 00:24:26.339 This is actually all connected. 00:24:26.339 --> 00:24:26.519 Is it. 00:24:28.079 --> 00:24:29.179 We have a sin debt. 00:24:29.259 --> 00:24:29.879 Over us. 00:24:30.299 --> 00:24:30.699 Because. 00:24:30.699 --> 00:24:31.000 Because. 00:24:31.220 --> 00:24:32.459 We have broken God's law. 00:24:40.039 --> 00:24:40.559 We. 00:24:40.559 --> 00:24:42.740 We have that. 00:24:42.779 --> 00:24:43.759 Because we broke down the law. 00:24:43.899 --> 00:24:45.059 And the penalty. 00:24:45.059 --> 00:24:46.000 We have. 00:24:46.419 --> 00:24:47.279 For that. 00:24:47.579 --> 00:24:48.039 Is. 00:24:48.980 --> 00:24:49.639 God's wrath. 00:24:51.059 --> 00:24:51.339 Right. 00:24:51.339 --> 00:24:52.459 That is. 00:24:56.159 --> 00:24:56.879 That is. 00:24:57.079 --> 00:24:56.899 That is. 00:24:57.079 --> 00:24:58.579 The negative consequence. 00:25:00.579 --> 00:25:02.259 That's the negative consequence. 00:25:02.259 --> 00:25:02.819 Of suffering. 00:25:03.000 --> 00:25:03.139 So. 00:25:03.539 --> 00:25:04.359 We have the debt. 00:25:04.459 --> 00:25:05.579 Because we have it obeyed. 00:25:05.679 --> 00:25:06.039 And therefore. 00:25:06.240 --> 00:25:06.740 We must suffer. 00:25:06.879 --> 00:25:07.079 Therefore. 00:25:07.159 --> 00:25:07.859 We have the wrath. 00:25:11.439 --> 00:25:12.339 And so. 00:25:13.119 --> 00:25:14.019 Think about. 00:25:14.379 --> 00:25:15.339 What Christ. 00:25:15.980 --> 00:25:16.500 Entered into. 00:25:17.740 --> 00:25:18.639 What did. 00:25:18.779 --> 00:25:19.839 The son of God do. 00:25:19.839 --> 00:25:33.819 He humbled himself, took on human flesh, a human nature, and entered under the law and became one of us. 00:25:37.119 --> 00:25:44.039 This ties together his whole state of humiliation from birth until the cross. 00:25:44.039 --> 00:25:50.899 And so when you think of it this way, right, so this is what Christ's state of humiliation is all about. 00:25:51.119 --> 00:25:53.960 This is what he came to live under. 00:25:54.759 --> 00:25:57.099 And when you think of it this way, it ties it all together. 00:25:57.259 --> 00:26:00.619 And you can actually sum up all that Christ did is this. 00:26:01.440 --> 00:26:05.200 All that Christ did was obedience. 00:26:05.200 --> 00:26:18.279 So all of this, it's all obedience, all his work. 00:26:18.279 --> 00:26:27.119 And that obedience, obedience to the law, it involves positively doing the law. 00:26:27.240 --> 00:26:29.500 Remember, there are kind of like two things required. 00:26:30.099 --> 00:26:33.940 Positively doing the law, i.e. not sinning. 00:26:34.539 --> 00:26:37.639 And it involves suffering that penalty. 00:26:37.640 --> 00:26:55.560 And so, just like here and here, obedience requires, so those are the two demands of the law, obedience requires, I mean, to those who demand, obey and sub. 00:26:56.920 --> 00:26:58.480 That's what we mean by obedience. 00:26:59.259 --> 00:27:02.320 And that's the case even if you're under English law, all right? 00:27:02.480 --> 00:27:04.540 Okay, let's come back away from the diagram. 00:27:04.759 --> 00:27:05.900 Think about England, right? 00:27:05.900 --> 00:27:10.519 If you're under English law, you have two demands upon you. 00:27:10.660 --> 00:27:16.000 You can obey by following the law positively, not murdering, right? 00:27:16.040 --> 00:27:16.940 Being a good citizen. 00:27:18.340 --> 00:27:25.480 And if you break the law, you must obey it by following what the law demands. 00:27:26.360 --> 00:27:30.160 So if you then do murder, you've got to face the punishment. 00:27:30.759 --> 00:27:32.060 Take the prison sentence. 00:27:32.240 --> 00:27:34.060 You've got to obey the law by doing that. 00:27:34.059 --> 00:27:36.919 There are two demands from the law. 00:27:38.119 --> 00:27:41.480 And that's what Christ did in his state of humiliation. 00:27:41.679 --> 00:27:46.200 As soon as he comes into this world, he comes under the law and says, 00:27:46.200 --> 00:27:51.100 I'm going to become one of you, stand alongside you. 00:27:51.740 --> 00:27:56.039 And actually, I'm going to represent you and I'm going to obey for you. 00:27:56.039 --> 00:28:01.159 And I'm going to take all of this law, all the penalty for you. 00:28:01.159 --> 00:28:03.819 And I'm going to suffer instead of you. 00:28:03.819 --> 00:28:10.980 And so he atones by obeying both demands. 00:28:10.980 --> 00:28:21.079 And if he obeys all of this law, remember, if it's all connected to this law and then that's all taken off us, what happens? 00:28:22.180 --> 00:28:22.700 Atonement. 00:28:22.700 --> 00:28:30.200 And this obedience, this is all summed up, his work is summed up by obedience to this law. 00:28:30.860 --> 00:28:33.819 And it all climaxes at the cross. 00:28:33.940 --> 00:28:34.539 Think of the chart. 00:28:34.539 --> 00:28:38.220 And I know this might be a lot to take in. 00:28:38.539 --> 00:28:41.899 This looks like drawings of a conspiracy theorist, right? 00:28:42.180 --> 00:28:44.099 But I know it's a lot to take in. 00:28:45.279 --> 00:28:48.319 But actually, in some ways, it just simplifies things. 00:28:48.859 --> 00:28:50.159 There is infinite depth towards it. 00:28:50.319 --> 00:29:00.759 But just think, what Christ is doing in all that he's doing, life and death, thoughts, works, deeds, everything, he's obeying. 00:29:00.759 --> 00:29:04.000 And this might be a lot to take in. 00:29:04.119 --> 00:29:06.039 But I want us to keep thinking about this, okay? 00:29:07.000 --> 00:29:08.579 I want us to keep thinking about obedience. 00:29:09.140 --> 00:29:10.879 And I want us to see Christ's obedience. 00:29:11.559 --> 00:29:14.680 It's both a matter of his life and his death. 00:29:14.920 --> 00:29:17.240 I hope we can already see that, but I want to dive into that a bit more. 00:29:17.720 --> 00:29:17.879 Okay? 00:29:18.119 --> 00:29:20.339 Second point, Christ's obedience, a matter of life and death. 00:29:21.220 --> 00:29:26.140 So, we've seen, you can sum it up as obedience, right? 00:29:26.440 --> 00:29:28.160 All that he's done, his whole mission. 00:29:28.279 --> 00:29:30.099 What does Jesus say, John 6? 00:29:30.759 --> 00:29:39.140 For I have come down from heaven, into a state of humiliation, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. 00:29:40.259 --> 00:29:40.700 Obedience. 00:29:42.240 --> 00:29:45.180 This is how you can sum up the state of humiliation. 00:29:46.220 --> 00:29:48.259 And, in fact, all is atoning work. 00:29:48.379 --> 00:29:49.079 It's obedience. 00:29:50.119 --> 00:29:54.759 And just to clarify, we're not saying here, we're not doing kind of anything different, 00:29:54.759 --> 00:29:59.759 or saying something different to what we've already thought about, in terms of kind of the wrath coming down. 00:29:59.940 --> 00:29:59.980 No. 00:30:01.619 --> 00:30:07.519 This is just kind of another angle to think about the atonement, kind of a way to tie everything together. 00:30:07.519 --> 00:30:10.579 But it's really just saying, we're just saying more of the same thing. 00:30:11.740 --> 00:30:15.240 And you can say this obedience we've seen has two dimensions. 00:30:17.019 --> 00:30:23.480 You can say he has, this obedience involves active and passive obedience. 00:30:24.480 --> 00:30:24.680 Okay? 00:30:24.680 --> 00:30:28.759 So the positive active and the negative passive. 00:30:29.240 --> 00:30:31.960 This is how theologians have often called it. 00:30:32.019 --> 00:30:40.560 So this positive and that negative, it's often called active obedience of Christ. 00:30:41.560 --> 00:30:46.420 And the passive obedience of Christ. 00:30:46.420 --> 00:30:49.160 I'm just giving it new names. 00:30:50.800 --> 00:30:53.279 And so I just want to think about the passive obedience for a second. 00:30:54.740 --> 00:30:56.860 So passive obedience, it means his suffering. 00:30:57.680 --> 00:31:01.880 So it means obeying the demands of the law, the penalty, the consequences. 00:31:02.500 --> 00:31:09.400 And the word passive, it's used not meaning that Jesus was inactive in all of this. 00:31:09.779 --> 00:31:09.920 Right? 00:31:10.320 --> 00:31:13.700 We use passive to mean, like, not involved, a bit inactive. 00:31:13.700 --> 00:31:16.500 No, passive, it comes from the Latin passio. 00:31:16.860 --> 00:31:16.960 Right? 00:31:17.360 --> 00:31:19.059 Passio means sufferings. 00:31:19.680 --> 00:31:24.420 And that's why you might hear the cross called Jesus's passion. 00:31:24.740 --> 00:31:25.440 Have you heard of that before? 00:31:25.539 --> 00:31:26.600 The passion of the Christ. 00:31:27.220 --> 00:31:27.420 Right? 00:31:28.680 --> 00:31:32.900 The word passions there, it's not used meaning kind of enthusiastic. 00:31:33.500 --> 00:31:35.160 You know, the enthusiasm of the Christ. 00:31:35.279 --> 00:31:39.360 No, it's talking about his sufferings, passio, sufferings of the Christ. 00:31:39.359 --> 00:31:45.679 So, what is Christ's humiliation? 00:31:45.879 --> 00:31:51.979 It was him coming under the law and entering a state of obedience. 00:31:52.319 --> 00:31:54.279 Passive obedience being one aspect. 00:31:55.419 --> 00:31:56.579 And what did that involve? 00:31:57.659 --> 00:32:01.839 What sufferings did Christ experience in this state? 00:32:01.839 --> 00:32:07.919 Let's just kind of just have a little breather and just reflect on the life of Christ. 00:32:09.299 --> 00:32:11.899 Just think about the Gospels. 00:32:12.579 --> 00:32:20.439 He was constantly surrounded by sin and evil and fallenness. 00:32:20.440 --> 00:32:24.680 He was constantly breathing that air. 00:32:24.799 --> 00:32:28.340 The first breath he took as a baby, it was breathing fallen air. 00:32:30.160 --> 00:32:35.320 And we even see from his very birth, there was even no place for him in the inn. 00:32:35.799 --> 00:32:37.580 So, he was placed in a manger. 00:32:39.340 --> 00:32:42.299 He had nowhere to live when he grew up. 00:32:42.400 --> 00:32:45.640 The foxes had holes, but the Son of Man had nowhere to lay his head. 00:32:47.120 --> 00:32:48.519 And how was he treated? 00:32:48.519 --> 00:32:54.599 He was rejected by his own town and threatened to be pushed off a cliff. 00:32:55.940 --> 00:33:00.420 He went over, he wept over his friend's death, Lazarus. 00:33:01.579 --> 00:33:03.299 He stood at gravesides. 00:33:04.220 --> 00:33:07.319 He was a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. 00:33:08.639 --> 00:33:12.019 He was tempted and targeted by the devil himself. 00:33:13.180 --> 00:33:16.160 He was persecuted all his life. 00:33:16.859 --> 00:33:18.420 Herod tried to kill him as a baby. 00:33:19.240 --> 00:33:21.259 And then the Pharisees plotted his murder. 00:33:23.240 --> 00:33:32.119 He lived with the constant and increasing realization that he will one day face the wrath of God on the cross. 00:33:32.119 --> 00:33:37.919 It was this looming dread over him his whole life. 00:33:37.919 --> 00:33:45.339 And you even see the peak of that intensity when he collapses in the Garden of Eden, in the Garden of Gethsemane. 00:33:45.339 --> 00:33:50.699 And then, of course, what does his life climax to? 00:33:51.119 --> 00:33:56.599 He faces the full force of God's wrath and curse on the cross. 00:33:56.599 --> 00:34:04.399 You could say when the word took on flesh, he immediately stepped into darkness. 00:34:05.279 --> 00:34:07.099 The darkness of humiliation. 00:34:07.099 --> 00:34:17.099 He joined us under the law and his whole life was him suffering that punishment, not for his sins. 00:34:17.159 --> 00:34:18.019 He had no sin. 00:34:18.380 --> 00:34:19.360 It was ours. 00:34:19.360 --> 00:34:25.220 It was all God's wrath that should be on us because of our law breaking. 00:34:25.219 --> 00:34:28.919 And this is his passive obedience. 00:34:28.920 --> 00:34:32.920 And the Heidelberg Catechism, it sums this up well. 00:34:32.920 --> 00:34:36.960 It asks, this section can ask about the Apostles' Creed. 00:34:37.240 --> 00:34:41.840 And it asks what it means by Christ suffered in the Apostles' Creed. 00:34:42.300 --> 00:34:43.599 And look at question 37. 00:34:43.599 --> 00:34:46.799 What do you understand by the word suffered? 00:34:47.539 --> 00:34:57.360 That during his whole life on earth, but especially at the end, Christ sustained in body and soul the wrath of God against the sin of the whole human race. 00:34:57.980 --> 00:35:11.380 This he did in order that by his suffering as the only atoning sacrifice, he might deliver us body and soul from eternal condemnation and gain for us God's grace, righteousness and eternal life. 00:35:11.380 --> 00:35:14.760 And this is just Philippians, isn't it? 00:35:15.260 --> 00:35:18.220 He became obedient to the penalty of the law. 00:35:18.780 --> 00:35:27.019 And he was for all his life constantly propitiating, redeeming, paying the penalty, reconciling. 00:35:28.140 --> 00:35:36.059 And he did that all the way up to the point of death, even death on a cross, the ultimate payment for law breaking. 00:35:36.059 --> 00:35:43.480 But life under the law, it also meant another aspect, active obedience. 00:35:44.380 --> 00:35:48.840 And by this, we mean positively following the law, doing the commandments. 00:35:49.799 --> 00:35:55.539 And so this means, I'll spend a bit less time on this, this means Jesus lived a perfect life. 00:35:56.340 --> 00:36:02.099 So he followed the Ten Commandments perfectly every day, fulfilled the Mosaic law, all the rituals. 00:36:02.099 --> 00:36:09.759 He was sinless in God's eyes, loved God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength. 00:36:10.420 --> 00:36:15.039 The Lord, the Father looks at his son and says, this is my beloved son. 00:36:15.400 --> 00:36:16.940 Not that he's just done nothing wrong. 00:36:17.039 --> 00:36:21.519 No, he is perfectly overflowing with righteousness. 00:36:21.519 --> 00:36:28.079 And again, we mustn't think that this is disconnected from his death. 00:36:28.980 --> 00:36:31.380 This is all part of his state of humiliation. 00:36:31.780 --> 00:36:33.519 And for two reasons, two important reasons. 00:36:34.000 --> 00:36:43.860 Firstly, his perfect life meant that when he was sacrificed on the cross, it was a perfect, sinless sacrifice. 00:36:43.860 --> 00:36:49.019 And only that can be good enough to substitute for us. 00:36:49.240 --> 00:36:51.760 You need a perfect lamb to pay for sin. 00:36:51.760 --> 00:36:58.579 And so one drop of sin in Jesus' life, 20 years before the cross, it would have ruined everything. 00:36:59.680 --> 00:37:03.980 He was obeying to be the perfect sacrifice on the cross. 00:37:03.980 --> 00:37:11.159 But secondly, even going to the cross was obeying God's will. 00:37:12.280 --> 00:37:15.179 So the mission from his father is that he should die. 00:37:16.240 --> 00:37:21.179 So remember Gethsemane, it was the father's will that he should drink the cup of wrath. 00:37:21.500 --> 00:37:25.840 And so Christ's active obedience, it's the same as his suffering. 00:37:25.840 --> 00:37:29.220 It starts from birth, from birth, from birth. 00:37:29.320 --> 00:37:38.940 And then the greatest act of obedience that requires a huge act of the will, boom, it's the cross. 00:37:41.000 --> 00:37:43.200 That was his greatest act of obedience. 00:37:43.360 --> 00:37:48.500 He humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. 00:37:48.500 --> 00:37:54.599 And so can you see that the cross, it's connected to all of Jesus' life. 00:37:55.480 --> 00:38:02.539 It is all one big state of humiliation and so one big act of obedience with the cross at the climax. 00:38:03.860 --> 00:38:09.019 And so on the cross, Christ was fulfilling all that was required for us. 00:38:09.800 --> 00:38:11.219 Obedience and suffering. 00:38:11.760 --> 00:38:14.440 And this is what takes us out from under the law. 00:38:14.440 --> 00:38:23.420 Obedience, this is what takes us out from under the debt and the wrath and brings us atonement. 00:38:23.539 --> 00:38:24.619 It's his obedience. 00:38:26.320 --> 00:38:29.980 So Christ comes down, he becomes trapped with us, you could say. 00:38:30.519 --> 00:38:32.679 And then he takes us out of that darkness. 00:38:34.579 --> 00:38:36.920 I've mentioned the film Daylight before. 00:38:38.059 --> 00:38:42.039 Daylight, it's a 90s fun action film starring Sylvester Stallone. 00:38:42.039 --> 00:38:44.699 I began watching it on Friday night. 00:38:44.880 --> 00:38:46.000 It's even better than I remember. 00:38:46.820 --> 00:38:47.679 I used to watch it. 00:38:47.719 --> 00:38:50.279 It's just one of those random films you watch as a kid with your family. 00:38:50.659 --> 00:38:53.099 It was just always on TV and we used to watch it. 00:38:53.239 --> 00:38:54.059 And I love it. 00:38:54.440 --> 00:39:00.400 It's about a tunnel in New York, a tunnel that goes under the Hudson River and it collapses both sides. 00:39:01.099 --> 00:39:05.360 And so you have a load of people trapped in this dark tunnel under the Hudson River. 00:39:05.360 --> 00:39:07.860 And it's filling up with water and toxic gas. 00:39:07.860 --> 00:39:14.260 But they're all trapped under the tunnel and no one can get in except one guy. 00:39:14.920 --> 00:39:16.380 And he miraculously gets in. 00:39:16.940 --> 00:39:22.660 And the only way to get them out is for someone to come from the outside, Sylvester Stallone, 00:39:23.300 --> 00:39:32.000 to come into the tunnel, get trapped with them and then bring them out, out of the tunnel into daylight. 00:39:32.980 --> 00:39:33.740 And it's an amazing film. 00:39:33.800 --> 00:39:34.280 That's your homework. 00:39:34.340 --> 00:39:35.000 You've got to watch that. 00:39:35.000 --> 00:39:37.199 And it's an amazing film for lots of reasons. 00:39:37.400 --> 00:39:41.440 But it's great because that's just like the atonement. 00:39:42.800 --> 00:39:53.960 Christ comes down into the darkness, comes trapped under the law, suffers for us and brings us out the other side into daylight. 00:39:55.760 --> 00:39:58.579 And to finish, I want us to think about how he brings us into daylight. 00:39:58.659 --> 00:40:01.440 I want us to see how this is connected to his exaltation. 00:40:01.440 --> 00:40:02.400 Exaltation. 00:40:02.860 --> 00:40:04.519 And I'll just be one minute with this. 00:40:05.559 --> 00:40:07.519 So when does this state change? 00:40:08.240 --> 00:40:11.000 It's his resurrection, ascension. 00:40:11.840 --> 00:40:12.400 Resurrection. 00:40:15.840 --> 00:40:16.400 Ascension. 00:40:19.340 --> 00:40:21.720 And his enthronement in heaven. 00:40:21.719 --> 00:40:32.459 But what is the link between the two? 00:40:33.000 --> 00:40:35.459 Often we think, okay, Christ died. 00:40:36.019 --> 00:40:37.699 Oh, but don't forget, he also rose again. 00:40:37.919 --> 00:40:38.099 Right? 00:40:38.639 --> 00:40:40.079 And so we kind of added on. 00:40:40.319 --> 00:40:43.159 But what's the connection between the two? 00:40:43.519 --> 00:40:45.859 Why did he need to rise again? 00:40:45.860 --> 00:40:49.160 Well, look at Philippians 2, 8 and 9. 00:40:50.300 --> 00:40:55.120 He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 00:40:55.960 --> 00:40:58.860 Therefore, God has highly exalted him. 00:40:58.860 --> 00:41:02.760 It is because Christ was so obedient. 00:41:03.220 --> 00:41:05.680 It is because of the obedience of the cross. 00:41:06.320 --> 00:41:07.720 Therefore, God exalted him. 00:41:08.740 --> 00:41:11.320 So Christ's resurrection and enthronement. 00:41:11.800 --> 00:41:17.120 It's not just a, oh, it happens to be added on because that just works well for the story in salvation. 00:41:17.500 --> 00:41:20.039 No, it's a reward for his obedience. 00:41:20.920 --> 00:41:21.599 Hebrews 2, 9. 00:41:21.720 --> 00:41:26.340 He was crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death. 00:41:26.340 --> 00:41:34.460 So his payment on the cross not only settled our debt to zero, but his obedience was so valuable. 00:41:34.720 --> 00:41:36.120 It deserved a reward. 00:41:36.280 --> 00:41:38.300 It deserved glory. 00:41:39.640 --> 00:41:41.380 Christ's state of exaltation. 00:41:41.579 --> 00:41:43.360 It's the great therefore. 00:41:44.539 --> 00:41:49.200 Because of the cross and his humiliation, therefore, all glory to the son. 00:41:49.199 --> 00:41:57.139 And just remember, he does all this with his people on his belt. 00:41:58.139 --> 00:42:04.379 So he comes out of the tunnel into the daylight of glory and he brings all of us with us. 00:42:05.839 --> 00:42:06.679 With him. 00:42:08.199 --> 00:42:09.519 Resurrection, glory. 00:42:09.980 --> 00:42:12.519 And he brings us into God's presence. 00:42:12.519 --> 00:42:15.980 And so we are at one with God. 00:42:17.019 --> 00:42:17.460 Atonement. 00:42:20.059 --> 00:42:21.980 Maybe one minute for questions. 00:42:24.900 --> 00:42:26.699 Sorry, I know that was like drinking through a fire. 00:42:26.900 --> 00:42:27.400 Well done. 00:42:29.960 --> 00:42:30.400 Go on, Sam. 00:42:30.400 --> 00:42:36.180 So when God says, this is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased. 00:42:36.360 --> 00:42:36.519 Yeah. 00:42:37.519 --> 00:42:38.860 Does he say that of us? 00:42:40.539 --> 00:42:41.639 Yes, exactly. 00:42:42.019 --> 00:42:48.519 Well, in Christ, we can make distinctions, but yes, in Christ he is pleased with us because 00:42:48.519 --> 00:42:53.960 all that obedience, he's been perfectly obedient, he's been perfectly righteous. 00:42:55.019 --> 00:42:56.599 What does he do with that righteousness? 00:42:56.800 --> 00:42:57.980 Does that just stay to himself? 00:42:57.980 --> 00:43:01.460 No, he shares that with everyone on his belt. 00:43:01.880 --> 00:43:06.400 We are, if you remember the word, imputed with Christ's righteousness. 00:43:07.199 --> 00:43:10.340 So, can the father say, this is my beloved son? 00:43:12.260 --> 00:43:13.539 In a way, yes. 00:43:14.119 --> 00:43:15.099 But although, I don't know. 00:43:15.440 --> 00:43:23.219 If I sin, like, you know, I fall into sin and then I come for heaven father. 00:43:23.420 --> 00:43:23.619 Yeah. 00:43:23.619 --> 00:43:26.980 What should I think? 00:43:27.460 --> 00:43:27.839 You know what? 00:43:28.359 --> 00:43:30.679 Like, the father is, feed with me. 00:43:30.880 --> 00:43:31.000 Yeah. 00:43:32.279 --> 00:43:33.880 Like, that's hard to think, right? 00:43:34.019 --> 00:43:34.619 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:43:34.619 --> 00:43:35.239 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:43:35.239 --> 00:43:46.159 So, we're going to say, in our status before God, we are always his children. 00:43:46.500 --> 00:43:47.579 We are always forgiven. 00:43:47.799 --> 00:43:48.859 In one sense, he nipped. 00:43:49.019 --> 00:43:51.019 And forgiveness means our sins covered over. 00:43:51.159 --> 00:43:54.899 He never sees our sin because we're in his son. 00:43:55.359 --> 00:43:59.019 And because we are now, in our account, is all Christ's righteousness. 00:43:59.179 --> 00:44:00.539 That's what's in our bank, right? 00:44:00.719 --> 00:44:01.500 It's all Christ's righteousness. 00:44:01.500 --> 00:44:05.320 So, what does God see when he sees us? 00:44:05.360 --> 00:44:06.699 He sees Christ in his righteousness. 00:44:07.940 --> 00:44:10.239 But yes, we do still sin in his life. 00:44:10.920 --> 00:44:18.019 So, when we come to God with our sin, we are doing it with sin that's already been forgiven, 00:44:18.579 --> 00:44:19.579 already been covered. 00:44:20.380 --> 00:44:23.300 We are just kind of, in a sense, keeping a short account with God. 00:44:23.300 --> 00:44:29.200 It's not that God looks at us with condemnation of like, oh, no, you're back under the law now. 00:44:29.660 --> 00:44:33.720 You know, the obedience of the suffering, it's all being done by Christ. 00:44:34.300 --> 00:44:35.860 Is that where you're going, Sam? 00:44:36.140 --> 00:44:36.260 Yeah. 00:44:37.060 --> 00:44:37.260 Yeah. 00:44:37.640 --> 00:44:38.900 Kind of a good enough answer. 00:44:39.320 --> 00:44:39.920 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:44:41.300 --> 00:44:41.700 Yeah. 00:44:41.920 --> 00:44:42.320 Yeah. 00:44:42.800 --> 00:44:43.000 Yeah. 00:44:44.000 --> 00:44:44.440 Yeah. 00:44:45.080 --> 00:44:45.480 Yeah. 00:44:45.600 --> 00:44:46.460 It's hard to think. 00:44:46.860 --> 00:44:49.539 But it's something we need to be reminded of. 00:44:49.660 --> 00:44:51.820 In fact, let's finish with, just look at Galatians 4. 00:44:51.820 --> 00:44:53.400 I don't have my Bible. 00:44:53.720 --> 00:44:54.280 That's my Bible. 00:44:55.000 --> 00:44:56.039 Where's Galatians 4? 00:45:10.940 --> 00:45:11.900 Galatians 4.4. 00:45:12.800 --> 00:45:18.080 When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 00:45:18.079 --> 00:45:23.139 to redeem those who are under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 00:45:24.420 --> 00:45:25.559 What are we now, my friend? 00:45:25.619 --> 00:45:27.119 We are sons in God's eyes. 00:45:28.239 --> 00:45:32.119 And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 00:45:32.259 --> 00:45:32.739 Abba, Father. 00:45:32.980 --> 00:45:35.199 So you are no longer a slave, but a son. 00:45:35.799 --> 00:45:37.699 And if a son, then an heir through God. 00:45:37.699 --> 00:45:39.699 Yeah. 00:45:40.239 --> 00:45:47.099 When we reflect on our own sin, our hearts may accuse us of all sorts of things, but this 00:45:47.099 --> 00:45:48.579 is what we need to remind ourselves of. 00:45:48.980 --> 00:45:52.980 Take our eyes off our own hearts, look at Christ, and realize, you know, we are sons 00:45:52.980 --> 00:45:54.599 in the Son. 00:45:57.599 --> 00:45:58.739 Yeah, go on, Toby, last one. 00:45:58.739 --> 00:46:02.500 So, just going to say, we are not still under the law, but you can't keep on killing people. 00:46:03.219 --> 00:46:03.579 Yeah. 00:46:04.199 --> 00:46:07.599 So, under the law in, good question. 00:46:07.759 --> 00:46:12.179 So, yeah, we can't keep on killing people, but are we under the law? 00:46:12.739 --> 00:46:13.859 I'm glad you said that to me. 00:46:15.639 --> 00:46:21.979 Are we under the law in the, basically, in the trapped sense? 00:46:21.980 --> 00:46:27.099 In the, this is now condemning us every second of every day. 00:46:27.380 --> 00:46:33.980 We are not under the law in that sense, but as creatures, of course, we are always obligated 00:46:34.679 --> 00:46:38.260 and accountable to God, but the law has become something different for us now. 00:46:38.619 --> 00:46:41.920 It's not this huge burden hanging over slaves. 00:46:42.559 --> 00:46:49.420 It is now a delight for God's sons to say, this is the righteousness of the Father, of our 00:46:49.420 --> 00:46:49.740 Father. 00:46:50.099 --> 00:46:51.300 This is how we're to live now. 00:46:51.300 --> 00:46:56.560 So, it's a map for us, rather than this condemning sentence over us. 00:46:56.820 --> 00:46:58.120 So, yes, we are under the law. 00:46:58.240 --> 00:47:00.720 All creatures, all creation is under the law in that sense. 00:47:01.600 --> 00:47:03.440 We're not under it in this sense. 00:47:04.180 --> 00:47:04.680 Does that make sense? 00:47:05.400 --> 00:47:05.720 Yeah. 00:47:06.160 --> 00:47:06.380 Great. 00:47:06.980 --> 00:47:07.500 Let's pray. 00:47:14.640 --> 00:47:19.960 Lord God, we thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ, who took on flesh. 00:47:19.960 --> 00:47:23.059 Taking on the form of a servant. 00:47:24.220 --> 00:47:28.019 Who, for us and for our salvation, came under the law. 00:47:28.019 --> 00:47:30.300 Lord, who did everything for us. 00:47:30.300 --> 00:47:32.739 And Lord, we praise you for our saviour. 00:47:34.280 --> 00:47:37.900 And Lord, we do pray that we would know that we, in him, we are redeemed. 00:47:38.000 --> 00:47:39.340 We are sons of God. 00:47:39.340 --> 00:47:48.460 And for those of us struggling with sin, with sin in our lives, where that, those accusations, 00:47:48.720 --> 00:47:53.200 that that guilt can overpower the sight of what Christ has done for us. 00:47:53.260 --> 00:47:58.420 Lord, would you please give us peace and comfort knowing that Christ has fulfilled the law, that 00:47:58.420 --> 00:47:59.360 he is our righteousness. 00:48:00.980 --> 00:48:06.840 Would we know that we can stand before you with great confidence, knowing that we are loved as your children. 00:48:07.680 --> 00:48:08.420 In Jesus' name. 00:48:08.700 --> 00:48:08.960 Amen.